Expansion of fiber optic based telecommunication service is being expended to greater diversity of businesses and homes. Many of these extensions of service within neighborhoods, industrial parks and business developments utilize optical fiber distribution cables laid within buried conduit. Passive optical networks for such services are becoming prevalent in part because service providers want to deliver high bandwidth communication capabilities to customers. Passive optical networks are a desirable choice for delivering high-speed communication data because they may not employ active electronic devices, such as amplifiers and repeaters, between a central office and a subscriber termination. The absence of active electronic devices may decrease network complexity and/or cost and may increase network reliability.
An example network can include a central office that connects a number of end subscribers (also called end users herein) in a network. The central office can additionally connect to one or more larger networks, such as the Internet (not shown) and a public switched telephone network (PSTN). Some cables in the network can be branched out from main cable lines and routed to fiber distribution and access terminals (e.g., fiber distribution hubs or pedestals). Such branched cables might extend from the fiber distribution and access terminal to a smaller fiber access terminal (e.g., optical network terminal or drop terminal) directly adjacent the business or home to which service may be provided. The various lines of the network can be aerial or housed within underground conduits.
Splitters used in fiber distribution and access terminals can accept feeder cables having a number of fibers and may split those incoming fibers into, for example, 216 to 432 individual distribution fibers that may be associated with a like number of end user locations. In typical applications, an optical splitter is provided prepackaged in an optical splitter module housing and provided with splitter output pigtails that extend from the module. The splitter output pigtails are typically connectorized with, for example, SC, LC, or LX.5 connectors. The optical splitter module provides protective packaging for the optical splitter components in the housing and thus provides for easy handling for otherwise fragile splitter components. This modular approach allows optical splitter modules to be added incrementally to fiber distribution and access terminals as required.
Improvements to current fiber distribution cables and fiber access terminals are desirable.